Twice as Nice

May 28, 2014

The odds are 1 in 67 million, but on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, it happened to Richard Mellick.

It was a pretty average Wednesday for Mellick, who was competing at Western Hills Country Club in an SCGA Senior Amateur Championship qualifier. The 67-year-old member of Silverrock Resort plays a decent amount of golf, enjoying the camaraderie the game supplies at an age where he's less concerned with the final outcome of the numbers on his scorecard.

"It's just so much fun to go out there with guys you know so well and play a round," said Mellick. "At this age, I'm just glad to get around the course and shoot anything less than an 85. You certainly don't expect anything like this."

After a par, par, bogey, bogey start, Mellick stepped up to the 14th tee (his fifth hole of the day) with his 6-hybird. With the flag 155 yards away, Mellick gave the ball a good ride. It had just landed right in front of the hole and rolled a bit when his fellow competitor and good friend Fred said, "That's in the hole, Richard."

Mellick didn't think so, but when they approached the green they saw the ball resting against the flagstick and the lip of the hole. As one of Mellick's fellow competitors removed the flag, the ball fell in.

"It was too cool, as soon as that ball dropped in the hole," said Mellick, who had previously had two holes-in-one but not one in more than four decades.

And as if that wasn't cool enough, ten holes later it happened again. With 165 yards to the hole on the course's sixth hole (Mellick's 15th of the round), a downhill par 3, Mellick hit a great shot that again landed just short of the hole before rolling in. By the time the group made it to the green, the ball had found the bottom of the whole.

"It was really unbelievable," said Mellick, who used the same club and ball for both aces. "I never thought there was a chance for another one when I stepped up to the sixth tee. But to have an experience like that while playing with some friends I've known for a long time, it's just such a cool thing."

After the round Mellick filled out a second scorecard and had it signed by all his fellow competitors. Then what did he do? Bought $10 lottery tickets for him and Fred, hoping maybe he still had a little luck left in the tank.